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Illinois Wesleyan Argus
Vol. X BLOOMINGTON, ILLINOIS, NOVEMBER 12, 1908 No. 4
The Oratorical Contest
THE CONTESTED ORATIONS
SAVONAROLA-PRIEST AND PATRIOT
E. F. O'FLYNN.
Won First Prize in Inter-State Contest,
May, 1907.
Majectically enthroned in the heart of Italy
lies the beautiful city of Florence. Behind her,
raising their massive shoulders into Italian
clouds, stand the lordly Appenines; before her
stretching away into the distant purple,
spreads Italy's loveliest valley; within her,
stately edifices and magnificent temples form
a great forest of stone and marble, and down
from the vine-clad hills and through it all and
out into the peaceful valley flows the crystal
Arno.
To tell the story of Florence is to tell of
her beauty, her glory, her art and her men.
But it is of her men I would speak; great,
gallant men, who living consecrated their lives
to the uplifting of humanity, and dying left
their impress on history that all might read.
Of such was Girolamo Savonarola.
Born in the middle of the fifteenth century
he came into an Italy submerged in the pagan
renaissance. Like a Caesar or a Pericles
ruled Lorenzo at Florence, and like them too,
did he, whom men called the Magnificent,
pervert his people and buy their liberty
through pompous show. Frivolity and dis-sipation
reigned. Corruption in high places
had an evil effect on society, and the pro-fligacy
extended to the lower classes. Im-morality
and sensuousness marked the Car-nival.
At length prolonged dissipation and
ribaldry worked its effect. Well had Lorenzo
learned from Tacitus that to enslave the
people was first to corrupt them. But all the
time the show went on, though Florence
groaned and rotted beneath it.
Into this Athens, worn from fasts and tears
and vigils, came the monk, Savonarola-a
John at the court of Herod. Even as a child,
the sight of sin and vice had sickened him.
On entering manhood he turned his back to
the world and sought contentment in the
cloister. But not in his new life was he to
find peace. Cruelty and vice spread over
Italy, whilst within the Church where he
sought refuge he was shocked to behold the
relaxation in morals and the scandals in ec-
. THE INTREPID DOMINICAN
H. P. GREEN.
(Oration contested on grounds of plagiarism.)
Gloriously imbedded in the flowerland of
Italy lies the beautiful city of Florence. To
her right, tipping the Italian clouds with their
majestic peaks and keeping eternal vigil
over the sleeping city, stand the lordly Ap-penines.
To her left, reaching far out into the
distant purple, spreads Italy's loveliest valley.
Through her center flows peacefully the crys-tal
Arno. And on its either bank and vieing
with the heights of the towering mountains
are her stately palaces and magnificent tem-ples
which add to and complete the pomp
and splendor of the panorama.
Would I complete a story of Florence, then
need I tell of her wealth, her power, her
beauty, her glory, and her men. Suffice it
however that I speak of her men. Noble,
heroic, altruistic they were who dedicated
their lives to the uplifting of a down-trodden
humanity and consecrated their deaths by the
impress of their immortal personalities on the
historic page. Supreme among men of such
a character was Girolamo Savonarola.
Ushered into the world in the middle of the
fifteenth century he awoke in an Italy piti-fully
burdened, cruelly oppressed. With regal
splendor, Lorenzo De Medici dazzled and
swayed the minds of the docile populace at
Florence. Vice reigned unchecked and un-rebuked.
Crime had become a profession;
murder an art. And so finally accordant with
the ruler's purpose, the inevitable consequence
was effected. Not amiss had this wily tyrant
perceived that to enslave the people was first
to corrupt them. Accordingly the pollution in-cessantly
augmented while fair Florence wailed
and despaired and decayed therefrom.
Into this demoralized Florence, with a bur-dened
soul and an aching heart, yet with an
unwavering purpose came the monk Savon-arola,
toiling over the Appenines. As a child
he -had hated vice and sin. On entering man-hood
he abhorred them. Having renounced
the world he found temporary contentment
for his restless soul in the daily prayers, fast-ings,
mortifications of the most rigorous kind
in the, cloister. But how rapidly that joy
turned to sorrow as he witnessed the treach-

The Argus, Illinois Wesleyan University; printed by The Pantagraph, Bloomington, IL from 1894-2009 and P&P Press, Peoria, IL from 2009-present.

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Illinois Wesleyan Argus
Vol. X BLOOMINGTON, ILLINOIS, NOVEMBER 12, 1908 No. 4
The Oratorical Contest
THE CONTESTED ORATIONS
SAVONAROLA-PRIEST AND PATRIOT
E. F. O'FLYNN.
Won First Prize in Inter-State Contest,
May, 1907.
Majectically enthroned in the heart of Italy
lies the beautiful city of Florence. Behind her,
raising their massive shoulders into Italian
clouds, stand the lordly Appenines; before her
stretching away into the distant purple,
spreads Italy's loveliest valley; within her,
stately edifices and magnificent temples form
a great forest of stone and marble, and down
from the vine-clad hills and through it all and
out into the peaceful valley flows the crystal
Arno.
To tell the story of Florence is to tell of
her beauty, her glory, her art and her men.
But it is of her men I would speak; great,
gallant men, who living consecrated their lives
to the uplifting of humanity, and dying left
their impress on history that all might read.
Of such was Girolamo Savonarola.
Born in the middle of the fifteenth century
he came into an Italy submerged in the pagan
renaissance. Like a Caesar or a Pericles
ruled Lorenzo at Florence, and like them too,
did he, whom men called the Magnificent,
pervert his people and buy their liberty
through pompous show. Frivolity and dis-sipation
reigned. Corruption in high places
had an evil effect on society, and the pro-fligacy
extended to the lower classes. Im-morality
and sensuousness marked the Car-nival.
At length prolonged dissipation and
ribaldry worked its effect. Well had Lorenzo
learned from Tacitus that to enslave the
people was first to corrupt them. But all the
time the show went on, though Florence
groaned and rotted beneath it.
Into this Athens, worn from fasts and tears
and vigils, came the monk, Savonarola-a
John at the court of Herod. Even as a child,
the sight of sin and vice had sickened him.
On entering manhood he turned his back to
the world and sought contentment in the
cloister. But not in his new life was he to
find peace. Cruelty and vice spread over
Italy, whilst within the Church where he
sought refuge he was shocked to behold the
relaxation in morals and the scandals in ec-
. THE INTREPID DOMINICAN
H. P. GREEN.
(Oration contested on grounds of plagiarism.)
Gloriously imbedded in the flowerland of
Italy lies the beautiful city of Florence. To
her right, tipping the Italian clouds with their
majestic peaks and keeping eternal vigil
over the sleeping city, stand the lordly Ap-penines.
To her left, reaching far out into the
distant purple, spreads Italy's loveliest valley.
Through her center flows peacefully the crys-tal
Arno. And on its either bank and vieing
with the heights of the towering mountains
are her stately palaces and magnificent tem-ples
which add to and complete the pomp
and splendor of the panorama.
Would I complete a story of Florence, then
need I tell of her wealth, her power, her
beauty, her glory, and her men. Suffice it
however that I speak of her men. Noble,
heroic, altruistic they were who dedicated
their lives to the uplifting of a down-trodden
humanity and consecrated their deaths by the
impress of their immortal personalities on the
historic page. Supreme among men of such
a character was Girolamo Savonarola.
Ushered into the world in the middle of the
fifteenth century he awoke in an Italy piti-fully
burdened, cruelly oppressed. With regal
splendor, Lorenzo De Medici dazzled and
swayed the minds of the docile populace at
Florence. Vice reigned unchecked and un-rebuked.
Crime had become a profession;
murder an art. And so finally accordant with
the ruler's purpose, the inevitable consequence
was effected. Not amiss had this wily tyrant
perceived that to enslave the people was first
to corrupt them. Accordingly the pollution in-cessantly
augmented while fair Florence wailed
and despaired and decayed therefrom.
Into this demoralized Florence, with a bur-dened
soul and an aching heart, yet with an
unwavering purpose came the monk Savon-arola,
toiling over the Appenines. As a child
he -had hated vice and sin. On entering man-hood
he abhorred them. Having renounced
the world he found temporary contentment
for his restless soul in the daily prayers, fast-ings,
mortifications of the most rigorous kind
in the, cloister. But how rapidly that joy
turned to sorrow as he witnessed the treach-